Brent Richardson has resigned as CEO of Dream Center Education Holdings after a tumultuous year since the non-profit took over three chains of career education schools — the Art Institutes, Argosy University, and South University — formerly owned by for-profit EDMC. A person close to DCEH management confirmed the resignation.
Under Richardson, the former CEO of for-profit Grand Canyon University, DCEH closed numerous campuses, laid off hundreds of staff, and faced numerous adverse actions by accreditors. As Republic Report first reported, last May, DCEH published false statements about the accreditation status of two of its schools, and seemed to be seeking to leverage the non-profit schools to make money for for-profit schools and other businesses in which Richardson and his family and close associates were invested.
We’ve been covering the DCEH saga, and the terrible impact for students, ever since, up to yesterday’s announcement that DCEH was, with the blessing of the DeVos Department of Education, restructuring, turning over the Art Institutes and South to a separate non-profit foundation, and putting a for-profit company, Studio Enterprise, in charge of providing services to all three chains.
Richardson, through aides, repeatedly declined to speak with me to tell his side of the story (although they dangled an opportunity to meet in person if I traveled to Los Angeles and held off publishing an article), but associates say he was working without a salary, trying in fact to use his network to revive the former EDMC schools out of a sense of service.
The person who confirmed the resignation told me of Richardson: “He never asked for a penny…never operated in a conflict, visited 46 campuses multiple times, got it to a safe landing, all after deceptive corrupt ‘sale’ to DCEH by EDMC…he succeeded to achieve a good outcome against all odds…all of which will be confirmed in future litigation plus hopefully a congressional hearing on Oversight…which I hope you stimulate…And the majority of faculty, students, and staff are indeed better off than one year ago…and tax payers didn’t lose $1.3 billion like other troubled closures…”
This source called “100% false” an unverified online rumor that Brent Richardson is associated with the new non-profit and for-profit entities now tasked with operating many of the former DCEH schools.